These are the faces of two brothers missing for more than a week after they were washed from their frantic father’s arms following the devastating Valencia floods.
Ruben Matias, three and his brother Izan, five, were waiting at home for their mother to arrive home from work at a local supermarket when tragedy struck.
As they sat in the kitchen of their bungalow home, waiting patiently at the dinner table for their mother to join them for the supper their father had cooked the family was changed forever.
A wall of water six feet high – which one local described to MailOnline as a ‘tsunami’ engulfed the house – the father desperately clung on to his terrified sons as the powerful flood swept around them.
Suddenly the walls of the house caved in as a huge trailer lorry slammed into the side of the house, followed by another two smaller trucks, wrenching Ruben and Izan from their father’s grip and out into the darkness.
Ruben Matias, three and his brother Izan, five, were waiting at home for their mother to arrive home from work at a local supermarket when tragedy struck
Izan and Ruben’s home. A wall of water six feet high – which one local described to MailOnline as a ‘tsunami’ engulfed the house – the father desperately clung on to his terrified sons as the powerful flood swept around them
The area near Izan and Ruben’s home. The father – who has not been named – was swept downstream 200 metres and only survive by clinging onto a branch
The names of the two boys can be seen on their bedroom door which is half hanging on its hinges with toys scattered around the floor
The father – who has not been named – was swept downstream 200 metres and only survive by clinging onto a branch that protruding from the muddy embankment and he was rescued four hours later.
Barbara Sastre, the children’s aunt, told The Times: ‘Everything that was forced down the ravine — cars, trees and a container — hit the bedroom outer wall with a great crash.
‘We are destroyed. They are so young and so many days have now passed.’
A week on and there has still been no trace of the brothers, whose faces have been posted onto an Instagram page for the missing, and which numbers several hundred, with the death toll at 211.
The heartbreaking tragedy coupled with the sheer power of the tidal wave of water is visible as you stand in front of their wrecked house at Torrent.
Set close to a tributary of the l’Horeta river the house stood no chance as debris was washed down river after more than a year’s rain fell in just a few hours.
The names of the two boys can be seen on their bedroom door which is half hanging on its hinges with toys scattered around the floor.
A view of a destroyed house as a result of the floods in Torrent. A week on and there has still been no trace of the brothers, whose faces have been posted onto an Instagram page for the missing, and which numbers several hundred, with the death toll at 211
The heartbreaking tragedy coupled with the sheer power of the tidal wave of water is visible as you stand in front of their wrecked house at Torrent
To one size jammed at a crazy angle wedged between both banks of the river was a large green shipping container, and against it a bright orange one and a silver car.
While leaning against another wall is the family’s Peugeot, resting on it’s side against the outwide wall of the house with another trailer on top.
Spray painted on the back windscreen in red by civil protection teams, a serial number shows the car has been searched and no one found inside.
A neighbour of the brothers told MailOnline:’They were such lovely little boys, smiling and laughing, playing together and now they are gone.
‘Who knows where they were swept away to, they could be downstream anywhere or even out to sea.
‘The police, civil guard and fire brigade have been up and down but there’s no trace.
‘The dad was at home with them last Tuesday he as making dinner for his life and they were waiting for her to come home from work and in an instant their live changed.’
The distraught grandmother told MailOnline: ‘At one point my son even thought if letting go of the tree branch so he could be swept away as well.
‘Can you imagine that ? But he didn’t because he said ‘How can I leave my wife on her own after losing the boys.’
A woman comforts her friend following flash floods in Utiel, Spain. Late on Tuesday night officials said that more than 36,000 people had been rescued across the whole of the Valencia region since last week’s flood
Car and debris piled up in the aftermath of the floods. But there was still anger with authorities as they refused to disclose the official number of people believed to be missing with unconfirmed reports putting the figure at 1,900
‘People are offering food and water and other help but I don’t want any of this. I just want to find my two grandsons.’
Speaking to local media, the boys grandmother Antonia Maria Jimenez, said she felt ‘helpless as nothing is known about what happened to them’.
Mrs Jiminez added:’They were home from school at around 6pm after it had be raining all day, the lights went out in the house.
‘My son grabbed the children and was hugging them to reassure them because they were so scared when a two-metre-high wall of water came through the house.
‘It washed away the walls and it swept the two boys away, as my son desperately tried to hold onto them, he hung onto tree branch for more than four hours before he was saved.
‘My son is now in hospital with injuries to his legs and he doesn’t know where his children are, and the authorities are doing nothing.’
Late on Tuesday night officials said that more than 36,000 people had been rescued across the whole of the Valencia region since last week’s flood.
Among them was a disabled man found in his home where he had been ‘floating’ for three days with no food or water, police said.
The conservative-run Valencian government has asked for aid in mobilising resources from the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez. However the operations have been beset by bureaucracy, confusion in the chain of command and political bickering
But there was still anger with authorities as they refused to disclose the official number of people believed to be missing with unconfirmed reports putting the figure at 1,900.
The conservative-run Valencian government has asked for aid in mobilising resources from the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez.
However the operations have been beset by bureaucracy, confusion in the chain of command and political bickering.
This has led the conservative leader of the opposition, Alberto Feijóo, to ask Sanchez to declare a national emergency which the PM has refused claiming it could undermine the effectiveness of the public authorities.
